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Visual Basic 6 Master
by by Clayton Walnum - Review by Joe Mizer—NOCCC - July 02, 1999 at 00:17:53:
This book is the definitive Visual Basic reference, it was published by IDG Books. Even though IDG publishes the “For Dummies” series of books few realize that IDG is the worlds number one publisher of best selling computer books. Clayton Walnum started programming computers in 1982 with an Atari 400 and has been an author and magazine technical editor, writing about computers ever since. After reading another of his programming books I recommend his unique brand of humor and his knack of giving non-technical stories to convey a technical point.This book is exactly what the title suggests, it is a reference volume and is without the humor and descriptions he does so well. This reference is a complete alphabetical listing of the “Elements” of the Visual Basic language, including controls, objects, properties and other elements. The key to finding the information you need is to learn the naming conventions used in Visual Basic. Every Element is listed in alphabetical order mixing properties, objects, and controls together. This book is not a Visual Basic tutorial or text. So to understand the information it contains you need a basic understanding of Visual Basic. If you are taking a course or working through a Visual Basic tutorial, this book gives you the reference information you could never memorize and which is left out of most books. I just completed a class that used a text that only gave programming examples and never fully explained command options and use of the syntax. Without this book available as a reference, I would have struggled a lot more in that class.
Many of the technical descriptions given contain a section of code you can use to insert into a program or use to get familiar with the principles used. Many of these entries also have complete programs that illustrate the actual use of the syntax and are on the CD-ROM for your immediate use.
Each Element given has its NAME which is followed by the TYPE NAME, which lets you know whether it is an Event, Property, Concept, Method, Operator, Object, Control, State-ment, Keyword, Function, or a Collection. The syntax options are then given, followed by examples of usage and cross-reference listings where additional information can be found.
When I purchased my copy of Visual Basic 6 Professional all I got was a couple of small pamphlets on getting started. The language reference they provide is on the CD-ROMS, so you have to have your computer up and running to find any information.
This is a thick book with 1564 pages with all of the common and obscure things you need to know about Visual Basic. The list price is $69.99 and is a book every serious programmer should have available. IDG Books is found online at www.idgbooks.com. The ISBN # is 0-7645-3253-7.
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